§ 29. Mr. David Kidney (Stafford)What assessment he has made of the progress made by the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors in dealing with complaints against solicitors. [109642]
§ The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (Jane Kennedy)There are fewer outstanding cases, and the last month has also seen an improvement in the turnaround of complaints. However, there are still areas of serious concern, particularly in relation to the quality of adjudication of complaints. My colleague as Parliamentary Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Wyre Forest (Mr. Lock), will be visiting the OSS on 20 March to discuss these concerns. In the meantime, we will continue closely to monitor the progress made at the OSS.
§ Mr. KidneyI thank my hon. Friend for that answer. Does she agree that it is the responsibility of every solicitor to take seriously complaints about poor legal services? Will she ensure that every solicitor understands the message that if complaints are not dealt with responsibly by the profession, the Lord Chancellor will have to use his reserve powers provided in the Access to Justice Act 1999 and impose a statutory system for dealing with complaints?
§ Jane KennedyMy hon. Friend is right. We have those reserve powers. However, we believe that it would be better if the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors met the targets that we have set. We wish to give the OSS every opportunity to meet those targets. We must bear in mind that anxieties about the quality of casework, real though they are, must be balanced against the practical difficulties experienced by the OSS in turning things around, especially while new staff are being recruited and trained.
§ Mr. Ian Bruce (South Dorset)The hon. Lady may know that Mr. Tony Walden-Biles, one of the leading lights in the organisation Complaints Against Solicitors-action for Independent Adjudication—CASIA—is one of my constituents. I have on a number of occasions taken him to see two Conservative Ministers and now three lots of Labour Ministers. They all promised that as the supervision of solicitors was not really going according to plan and that as it was a last chance, the Government would probably start to impose supervision of solicitors from outside. Why do Ministers constantly say at the Dispatch Box that they are still not happy with the OSS while doing nothing about it? When my constituents have a serious complaint about solicitors, they are not satisfied with simply having their bills reduced and having a maximum compensation limit of £1,000.
§ Jane KennedyIt is not true that no action is being taken. It was precisely because we had concerns about the operations of the OSS that the reserve powers are provided in the 1999 Act. However, as I have just said to my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Mr. Kidney), we wish the OSS to make every effort to meet the targets that have been set in improving its service to those who complain about the service that they have received from solicitors. We are determined that improvements be made, and we have powers in reserve to use, should it prove necessary.